Category Customer Centric
Turning the tables on Big Brother: Now internet users can watch who is spying on them in blow against Google’s new snooping policy
Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, has unveiled a new add-on for the popular web browser that gives web users an instant view of which companies are ‘watching’ them as they browse.
The move comes the same week that Google pushed ahead with its controversial new privacy policy, built to provide even more data for Google’s $28 billion advertising business – despite concerns that the massive harvesting of private data might be illegal in many countries.
The Collusion add-on will allow users to ‘pull back the curtain’ on web advertising firms and other third parties that track people’s online movements, says Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs.
Watching the watchers: A demonstration of Collusion’s ‘real time’ view of advertisers watching – as web users browse popular sites such as IMDB (one of the grey dots), their movements are tracked by unwanted third party advertisers (the red dots)
Posted by eBrand Media Research Department in Customer Centric, Trend Tracker on March 2nd, 2012
Midscale Restaurant Goers Want Speed and Value
According to a recent Mintel foodservice study, 80% of family restaurant-goers who are eating out less in general are doing so because of budgetary reasons. Due to this and other challenges, family restaurant sales are expected to decline by 7% over the next four years, says the report. The family midscale segment has been the most negatively impacted, says the report, and the next few years aren’t expected to show an upward swing.
Eric Giandelone, foodservice director at Mintel, says “… pricing (alone) has not proved successful for family restaurants… (the) opportunity for the market to return to a path of growth is to employ a sustainable approach to value… (with) ‘reasonable’ prices and value-added benefits like health and convenience…”
However, historically, “healthy” menu items don’t sell well because a healthy item often communicates “no taste.” But, says the report, a change may be imminent, as 34% of restaurant-goers say healthy food is an important factor in selecting a family restaurant.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Customer Centric on February 11th, 2012
“Greenbacks” more valuable than green products – Few will pay extra for green products
| Global Online Consumers | |
| Position | % of Respondents |
| Important for companies to have environmental products | 83% |
| Raw materials influence decisions on where to shop and what to buy | 76% |
| Will pay more for eco-friendly products | 22% |
| Source: Nielsen, Global Online Survey, Q1 2011 | |
Willingness to pay extra for environmentally-friendly goods is highest in the Middle East/Africa, where one-third of consumers are willing and lowest in North America, where only 12% of both Canadians and Americans say they will pay extra for eco-friendly products.
Posted by eBrand Media Research Department in Customer Centric, Trend Tracker on September 14th, 2011
Motorola Solutions annual holiday survey indicates Consumers know more than Retail Sales Associates
The latest installment of the Motorola Solutions annual holiday study indicates that the majority of surveyed retail associates believe that shoppers were better connected to consumer information than in-store associates, driven by increasing availability of online shopping tools and mobile phone applications that allow price comparisons, access to coupons and social-networking.
The survey found that retailers that aren’t investing in technology to stay ahead of increasingly tech-savvy shoppers are hurting their own bottom line. 28% of store visits ended with an average of $132 unspent due to abandoned purchases driven by deal-habituated behavior, out-of-stocks, limited store associate assistance and long check-out processes.
| Product Awareness “The shopper today is better connected to product information than store associates… “ (% of Retailers) | |
| Response | % of Retailer Responses |
| Completely agree | 17% |
| Somewhat agree | 38 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 26 |
| Somewhat disagree | 15 |
| Completely disagree | 4 |
| Source: Motorola Solutions, January 2011 | |
Posted by eBrand Media Research Department in Customer Centric, Marketing on January 31st, 2011
Consumers Plan to Spend More, Save Less, and Pay Debts
According to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, more than half of adults are planning to spend more (14%) or the same (40%) in 2011 than they did last year, with the majority of that spending focused on themselves. Personal savings rates are still well above pre-recession levels and consumers will remain focused on saving, but they will set aside less than they did in 2010. After setting aggressive savings goals for 2010, $14,000 on average, consumers are paring back their savings target this year to a more modest $2,600.
Pamela Codispoti, senior vice present and general manager of Cardmember Services, American Express, says “… it’s encouraging to see that (consumers) feel more optimistic about their finances… they’re setting more realistic savings goals and… gained some financial breathing room to spend a bit more than in 2010.”
Posted by eBrand Media Research Department in Advertising, Customer Centric, Trend Tracker on January 18th, 2011